facts are facts..., page-61

My stance. Trust no one.

People who talk up a stock or talk it down may not have your interests at heart. They may. They may not.

Work out what you think the company will do, what value you think the stock has and invest what you are willing to risk on your judgement. Work out at what time and price you should jump in or out or hold. Listen to what others say but beware... start with the assumption that everyone here has an agenda.

People who talk a stock up may have just as much agenda as those talking it down.

People who offer what appear to be noble and sage advice may have an agenda as much as those who appear on first blush as only interested in causing mayhem. (NB they may be noble, they may not - it'a an anonymous chat forum - how do you know?).

Given that assumption, people who say "the facts are XYZ" when XYZ is something that will happen in the future and so cannot be known with certainty are easily dismissed.

They may be genuine in their belief or have a hidden agenda but they are just stating a future prediction with no real justification. They are the easy ones to avoid being fooled by.

People who say "Based on XYZ I think there is a good chance ABC will happen" are more tricky. They may be genuine or may have an agenda (not necessarily for your good). Approach all of it with skepticism and test it yourself.

If I wanted to make some quick money on a volatile stock that was hotly discussed by small investors and rife with rumour and likely to suffer reversals prior to production, one strategy would be to talk it up shamlessly... and then short it.

That stock long term may have great potential. If I did short it like that and won (eg after the recent drop from 80c to low 40s) but was confident in its long term viability (rather than its current volatility) I could then jump in after covering and buy extra at a nice price and make a bet long term as well. Or I may repeat the jig. What people would see on HC would be a poster who always seemed up beat about the company.

If you are here to bolster your confidence by hearing people say good things about your investment decision... ask yourself, why are you needing the reassurance in the first place? Why are you listening to reassurance from anonymous people about whom you know zip?

Do your own research don't take as gospel either hubris or doom from anonymous people on a chat forum.

Trust no one who posts here. Everyone has an agenda. Including me.